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It takes me longer than I expected, mostly because I know how small the island is, but the roads up the mountains are twisty, narrow, and I don’t want to ruin my boss’s car on my first day at the job.

I try to picture the man in my mind with the information I’ve been given.

I picture him as the protagonist of my favorite horror movie.

If he does look anything like him, I might run to the school and promise to fix all the computers overnight to make up for any inconvenience caused by not keeping my promise.

No. He can’t be that bad. That’s what I tell myself as I park the car underneath a big tree.

The headmistress told me to park here because it’s the easiest place to park near his place.

I get out of the car and a nice breeze hits me right before the warm, suffocating air does.

The breeze is nice, it feels like it’s cooler here surrounded by the trees.

Still, there’s not enough breeze for me to get comfortable as I head up the hill, following the gravel road leading up to Marcus’ house.

Finally, I see it. It’s a small cottage, cute, with blue railings and big pots filled with tiny trees on the porch. It’s not the scary villa I was picturing in my mind with hounds guarding the doors.

Feeling more confident with every little detail I see as I take each step, the bowls of water below a walnut tree, the insect hotel on the far right end of the house, I’m sure what everyone said it’s a lie.

Probably a prank on my first day. The guy probably has scared first-timers multiple times just for fun.

I knock on the wooden door. I wait for a bit before knocking again.

No answer. The man must be outside. I’ll just go to the back. Is that trespassing? Maybe? Definitely.

Now that I’ve established this was just a well set up prank, I don’t think it’ll hurt.

I walk around the house, and that’s when I start to hear a steady sound: the sound of something hitting wood. Once, twice, three times. I head uphill a bit, toward the noise, until I spot a broad back gripping an axe.

But that’s not what I focus on. I focus on every single leaf inked into his back, leaves that seem carefully placed to belong to each trunk that is each vein running across his muscular back. It’s like he’s part of a tree.

I can’t stop staring. And maybe a sigh escapes me, because he suddenly turns to face me.

“Who are you?” he snarls, giving me the first taste of what I’ve been promised. Definitely not a prank.

“I…I’m Bethany. I’m a teacher at Pepys school.”

“My answer is no.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to ask!”

“I do. You’re going to ask me if the kids can use the lake.”

“Yes!”

I hesitate and then add very softly, “please?”

“No. And get off of my property now.”

“I…” What do I say now? I’ve no idea. He doesn’t even give me time to adjust to him.

Because he’s nothing like I imagined. Yes, he’s rough.

He has more scars on his arms than I have on my whole body, and his scowl has me taking a step back.

But there’s something in his eyes that makes me want to stay instead of leave.

Maybe it’s because of how intimidating he looks that my feet are glued to the ground.

He heads towards me, making my palms sweat.

“I’m sure we can arrange something! I can maybe help you out here?”

He scoffs. “A city girl like you? Sure.”

How… how did he know? Am I that obvious? I look down at my dress, it's one of my fanciest ones because I wanted to make a good first impression, but I don't think that's why he singled me out. I hold my chin up, ready for battle, but before I say a word he talks again.

“Look, I’m not going to change my mind. It’s best for you to use your time somewhere else. I don’t want anyone here, certainly not you. Nor kids messing up my whole place.”

“I swear I’ll make sure they don’t damage anything on their way to the lake.”

“No. Leave.”

He points towards the cottage, towards the road back. I don’t want to leave. But I can tell I've lost this round.